Perth County Trivia Quiz (1)

byWally Wordsworth

Hi, folks. Following are 10 multiple choice trivia questions on Perth County. Give yourself one point for each correct answer. Deduct one point for each wrong answer. You’ll find all the correct answers below. Compare your score with those of family and friends. And check the website regularly for quizzes to come.

5. Listowel was the hometown of a World War I flying ace. Was he:
(a) Andrew Edward McKeever
(b) Billy Bishop
(c) Snoopy
(d) None of the above

6. Which of these Prime Ministers is buried at St. Mary’s?
(a) Sir Robert Borden
(b) Sir Wilfrid Laurier
(c) Sir MacKenzie Bowell
(d) None of the above

7. British-born master mechanic at the locomotive repairs shops in Stratford in the early 1880s was a well-read man named John Davis Barnett. His collection of some 42,000 bound volumes became the foundation for the library at
(a) McGill University
(b) Queen’s University
(c) University of Western Ontario
(d) None of the above

8. Laura Secord’s brother, Thomas Ingersoll:
(a) Founded the Laura Secord Chocolate Company
(b) Fought for Major General Sir Isaac Brock at Queenston Heights
(c) Built a sawmill and a grist mill at The Little Falls (St. Mary’s)
(d) None of the Above

9. Which of these waterways is not in Perth County?
(a) Whirl Creek
(b) Black Creek
(c) Flat Creek
(d) None of the above

10. The Fryfogels and the Seebachs were the first settlers in Perth County. They arrived in:
(a) 1808
(b) 1818
(c) 1828
(d) None of the above

ANSWERS

(c) Howie Morenz was born in Mitchell, September 21, 1902. Nicknamed the Stratford Streak and Mitchell Meteor, he played for the Stratford Midgets and Stratford Indians. He scored nine goals for Stratford in one game during a CNR hockey tournament at Montreal in 1922. He played on Montreal Canadiens teams that won the Stanley Cup three times, was the Habs top goal scorer for seven straight seasons, and was an NHL All Star three times. He played for Montreal, the Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers in a career spanning 14 seasons in the NHL.

(c) Former Prime Minister Joe Clark visited Punkeydoodles Corners on Canada Day in 1982. Commemorative stamps were issued from a post office that opened for one day only. The hamlet of Punkeydoodles Corners straddles three counties (Wilmot, Perth East and East Zorra Tavistock). Local legend has it that guests at a local tavern thought the innkeeper singing “Yankee Doodle” sounded more as though he were singing “Punkey Doodle.” The hamlet’s name changed briefly to Punkey Brewster Corners in 1986. Residents were annoyed because fewer tourists visited, and the hamlet sign was swiped four times in one year.

(a) Timothy Eaton opened his first dry goods store at St. Mary’s in 1869. He brought retailing to small communities across Canada through the mail order catalogue first issued in 1884. The T. Eaton Company Limited grew to 70,000 employees by World War II.

(d) None of the above. Frederick Wellington “Cyclone” Taylor (OBE) was born at Tara, Ontario, June 23, 1884, and moved at the age of 6 with his family to Listowel. He was a prolific goal scorer who won several scoring titles and played on two Stanley Cup winners — Ottawa Senators in 1909 and Vancouver Millionaires in 1915. He entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947. Later in life, he became Commissioner of Immigration for British Columbia and the Yukon. He died June 9, 1979.

(a) Major Andrew Edward McKeever was born at Listowel August 21, 1894. Flying Bristol F.2A (Brisfit) fighters, he was the highest scoring two seater fighter pilot in the Royal Flying Corps or Royal Air Force during World War I. He recorded 31 victories (18 enemy aircraft destroyed, 13 sent down out of control.) He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) following action November 30, 1917, in which he attacked two German two seaters and destroyed four of the seven Albatros aircraft protecting them. When the gun on his plane failed, he feigned being shot down, dove to an altitude of 25 feet and escaped home under cloud cover. He survived the war but injured a leg in a car accident and died at Listowel on Christmas Day, 1919.

(d) None of the above. Arthur Meighen, Canada’s ninth Prime Minister, is buried at St. Mary’s. Born on a farm near Anderson, Ontario, June 16, 1874, he was a skilled debater at St. Mary’s Collegiate Institute. Arthur Meighen and William Lyon Mackenzie King first met and did not get along well at the University of Toronto. Meighen graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School and at the age of 34 was elected Member of Parliament for Portage La Prairie in 1908. He held a number of Cabinet posts under Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden and steered legislation through Parliament that created the Canadian National Railway (CNR). He succeeded Borden in two brief terms as Prime Minister, the second of which lasted only three months when his government was defeated by a single vote in the House of Commons. Meighen lost his seat and the Conservatives were swept from office in the ensuing election, precipitated by what became known as the King-Byng affair. He was later appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister R.B. Bennett. Arthur Meighen died in Toronto, August 5, 1960.

(c) John Davis Barnett’s 42,000 bound volumes went to the University of Western Ontario.

(c) The Canada Company entered into an arrangement with Laura Secord’s brother, Thomas Ingersoll, in 1839, to build a sawmill and a grist mill at “The Little Falls of the Thames,” now St. Mary’s. The mills were erected from 1841 to 1843. Laura Secord is remembered for warning British forces that American troops were planning a surprise attack at Beaver Dams during the War of 1812. Her husband, James Secord, helped carry General Brock’s body from the battlefield at Queenston Heights. He, himself, was seriously injured in that battle. Laura’s other brothers, Charles and James, erected a sawmill, grist mill and distillery at Oxford-on-the-Thames, which they later renamed Ingersoll in honour of their father. Thomas Ingersoll brought his family to Upper Canada from Massachusetts in 1795 to take up land granted by Upper Canada Governor Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe.

(d) None of the above. All three creeks are located in Perth County.

(c) Both the Fryfogels and the Seebachs arrived in Perth County in 1828.

How did you do? If you scored:

10 out of 10: You are a Perth County historian. Join the Board of Directors at the Stratford Perth Heritage Foundation right away and put all that knowledge to good use;

8 out of 10: Still quite impressive. Spent some time at Stratford-Perth Archives, did you?

6 or 7: Good, but room for improvement. Didn’t know half the answers myself before I put this quiz together — W.W.

0 or 1: Tip: For noticeable improvement, do the quiz over again. If it weren’t for all the money some people make thinking up and answering such absurd questions, you might say this is a somewhat trivial pursuit. Better luck next time.

Now, ask all your friends — and even some who aren’t —to take the quiz, as well!